Brampton’s downtown plan

Councillors and residents have expressed concerns with a plan to rejuvenate Brampton's downtown.

The Brampton Civic Centre will be the centrepiece of a proposal to rejuvinate Brampton's downtown. But the project is drawing its fair share of controversy.

By:San GrewalUrban Affairs Reporter, Published on Mon Oct 24 2011

Today Brampton officials are set to sign one of the biggest contracts in the city’s history, a deal with a developer to rebuild the outdated downtown core.

But with the point of no return now here, the city is divided over the project.

Among the concerns voiced by critics of the project and selection process: the cost, supposed secrecy for a bidding process endorsed by councillors, a claimed lack of public input, and an investigation by the city’s integrity commissioner into Mayor Susan Fennell’s campaign contributions. The investigation and the project will be the focus of Wednesday’s council meeting.

Here’s a look at the issue.

THE PROJECT

A city hall expansion, office and retail space, a new library and parking around the centre of the city’s historic downtown. The goal is to rejuvenate the downtown and create a city centre. Dominus was the winning development company and council approved the first of three phases in August at a cost of $205 million over 25 years. If all three are built under the Dominus proposal, it will cost about $540 million in total. None of the costs have been budgeted by council.

THE PROCESS

To select a winning bid a procurement process, never used before in Canada, was approved by council in 2009. The so-called competitive dialogue process is popular in Europe. Its main advantage is it guarantees that the private partner and municipality are clear about what the project will deliver and how much it will cost. It is designed to help protect cities against unseen costs overruns and bring in more creative ideas from the private sector by taking the emphasis off acceptance of the lowest bid.

But to protect the competitiveness of participants, who have to display more creativity and openness, there is a closed bidding system, with negotiations often taking place with staff, not elected officials.

In Brampton, the process was questioned when councillors argued, months after their initial approval, that they did not realize council would be shut out from the selection process. They learned this year they could not get many details of the winning bid.

THE MAYOR

Fennell has come under fire for backing the Dominus plan. Five of the city’s 10 councillors have expressed concerns over contributions to her campaign and private gala and golf tournament from individuals with supposed links to Dominus while the bidding competition was open. They argue that could have been a violation of the bidding rules. Brampton resident Chris Bejnar filed a complaint with the city’s integrity commissioner.

Fennell voted to back the plan at the Aug. 10 council meeting, before the integrity commissioner’s report was finished.

The integrity commissioner, Donald Cameron, released his report last Thursday and said accepting such contributions when voting on matters that effect the contributors does not appear to be a violation, but that in “certain circumstances” it could be a violation of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. He leaves that determination, through an application from an elector, to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

THE COUNCILLORS

None of the four councillors who represent parts of Brampton’s downtown support the Dominus plan for the downtown redevelopment.

They say they worry about the cost and what that will mean for taxpayers, the seeming lack of information on the project’s financing and whether the project satisfies the agreed upon goals of the project. They also argue they were promised more transparency when council approved the new bidding process.

THE CITY MANAGER

Deborah Dubenofsky has championed the process from the start.

But councillors have become frustrated with the city manager when their questions about price and the financing costs charged by Dominus go unanswered. Dubenofsky has repeatedly stated that “competitive dialogue” does not allow such information to be divulged.

Dubenofsky has also been criticized for appointing the same person she introduced to council to recommend the process, James McKellar, who promotes it worldwide as a consultant, as the fairness adviser in the selection process. That role under the process supplants council’s oversight, but council wasn't consulted about appointing McKellar.

Dubenofsky, through her spokesperson, said she cannot comment since the matters are under formal review.

THE CITIZENS

Some of the city’s most influential residents, concerned with the proposal and how the city will pay for it, have formed Citizens For a Better Brampton.

Some residents have calculated cost per square foot of the Dominus plan and have asked the city for a breakdown. The group’s calculations put the cost at well over $500 a square foot, while they say the industry average is about $325 for similar projects.

“We were told that because of the competitive dialogue process we couldn’t get any details we were looking for,” says Bejnar, a member of the citizens’ group.

After filing a freedom of information request, Bejnar was eventually told by the city his request could not be met. The third party privacy rights of Dominus, to protect their competitive pricing, prevented any disclosure, he was told.

“This is the taxpayer’s money that’s about to be spent.”

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